Last week in our Tooling Up article we briefly touched upon the subject of how very little there is in the way of BMX specific/marketed pumps, then Dave at WeMakeThings hit us up to prove us wrong and show off Saltplus‘ new addition to their expanding tool line, the Mini foldable track pump;

“Flats suck. What sucks even more is having a flat and not having a pump with you to fix it. Well now you wont have an excuse not to have a pump with you next time you head out riding. The Saltplus Mini Pump is a micro sized version of a traditional track pump, but folds up to almost 1/4 of the size and will fit in your backpack with ease. Despite its small size, the Mini Pump packs a punch and will inflate your tires up to 110psi much quicker than you would think. With durable internals and designed to work with both Shrader and Presta Valves, this little guy will save your bacon next time you’re in a tight spot. Available October at Saltplus dealers worldwide.”

Material: high strength nylon and alloy internals Color: black Features: super small foldable design, can work with Shrader or Presta valves Inflates up to 110 psi

Its been said before and I’ll say it again, bikes are getting easier and easier to maintain, repair, dis-and re-assemble at a moments notice. Most bikes can be chucked into a golf flight bag in ten minutes with little more than a six millimetre allen key and a 17 mm socket if pegs are your bag. Bikes are nigh on perfect now but what about the tools you use to work on them? Are you still riding around with several pounds of ring spanners, a rubber mallet and your granddad’s old cross wrench in a military grade canvas rucksack or are you carrying something a little more subtle in your back pocket?

In my mind there are two types or riding; sessioning and cruising. With sessioning you find something good to ride (whatever that is in your mind, in mine it’s a wall ride…) put down your bag and jacket and you tend to stay in one area. With cruising you’re just rolling down the street, hopping curbs and generally not stopping too much; a bag isn’t really something you want here. Both of these situations influence your decision on what tools you carry on your person but unfortunately your bike usually has other plans… Being caught short can rue the day and there’s nothing worse than slipping your bars and having to ride home with your chin on your stem. Or walking. Especially if all you need is a spoke key.

So what is the least you can get away with carrying? While I personally carry a yellow spokey, a six millimetre allen key and a puncture kit and pray I can find a shop or petrol station with a pump if the worst happens, this is probably not the most sensible option. Lets start with the obvious; the ‘multitool-with-everything-you-could-ever-want-on-it’, namely the Shadow Conspiracy multitool, DK Random Wrench, Animal Kotulak, Eclat E-Tools and Salt Plus Tool Tube. While they vary from the all-bells-and-whistles of the Animal and Shadow tools with built-in chain splitters, and imperial allen keys to simpler offerings like from Eclat which could definitely tuck away in a winter coat. The main drawback is that you need something to carry it in as you generally wont fit it into your jeans pocket without looking like the bassist from This Is Spinal Tap.

The next kind of tool to consider is a pocket tool, Alfaro or Stolen’s Piece tool is a good start if you’re pegless, with a five (or 1/4″ in Alfaro’s case) and a six millimetre, tyre lever and a spoke key it’s got the bare bones of what you need to get going again and you never notice it in our pocket. Salt Plus’s Flip tool is another good example, with a chain splitter and multiple allen keys you could strip a pegless bike to the bare bones. If you ride pegs, Merritt’s Trifecta tool is a handy little telescopic 17mm socket with a 6 and an 8mm allen key attachment, it folds away to a mere 5 inches and even comes with hook and loop straps to carry it on your frame. The cons of such tools is that there’s always a chance you wont have the particular tool you need on you at the time.

That’s most people catered for but there are still some people out there who just can’t deal with a pocket full of stuff ruining the cut of their jeans or wearing the same backpack they used at school to carry tools you MIGHT need to fix your bike later. I know, it’s hard. Thankfully BMX has your back, companies like Kis and Wethepeople are turning the very same seatposts we sit above into 17mm sockets, so all you need to carry is a six to get that sucker out…. And you don’t even need to carry THAT if you have a Wethepeople Smuggler seat, well, if you can fit an allen key in beside all the weed you probably keep in there. If aesthetics are your thing then you should watch out that your post doesn’t get too scratched up by reinserting the post into the frame.

Other than the subject of pumps (of which this offering from Vocal was the only thing I could find worth half-mentioning) that’s about the long and short of it, there are plenty of BMX tool solutions out there to suit everyone so get tooled up, get out there and ride untill the wheels fall off. Then screw them back on again.

On the subject of Eclat stems… Spotted over on Wethepeople‘s site, this Jordan Godwin bike check reveals a prototype Eclat riser stem he’s running dubbed the ‘Dune’. There’s no other information as of yet but you can tell from the profile photo this is going to be a lofty one. Be sure to check back for updates on this smart little piece as they come.

In this video Kilian Roth and the guys over at Eclat demonstrate to us the ins and outs of the new cold-forged 6061-T6 aluminium Mercury stem. Cold forging is a great way to make strong, unique looking parts without using expensive and wasteful CNC machines, much like investment casting.

A little late off the mark but computers are a bugger like that, unlike bikes. If pastel colour schemes are your thing then Fly Bikes‘ Earth Brown colourway might be your bag, be it you ride trails, live in a swamp or are just a bit of hippie, Fly have you covered with the Ruben’s Rampera tyre, pedals and grips (Roey and Devon Smille’s signature grips get the treatment too) All are set to hit shops with the rest of their 2016 parts later this year.

Earlier than expected, the Broc Raiford signature Anchor forks from Volume Bikes have arrived at their Californian HQ for those of you who could do with some bike parts to match your fetching sailor tats. I could waffle on about these all day but Volume say it better;

Everybody’s favourite front tyre, The Ruben Alcantara signature Rampera tyre from Fly Bikes, much like a teenage girl’s hair, has been given some thorough colour treatment. The new additions feature a white version with black sidewall and my personal favourite, earth brown with black sidewall for people like me who live in a swamp. These new colourways will be out with the rest of the 2016 Fly Bikes range later on in the year.

While Radio‘s new 2016 green-to-black fade might not be everybody’s cup of tea, the products themselves have been designed to the high standard of all other WeMakeThings parts and have had full input from the Radio team. Here their Canadian shredder, Spencer Ryan shows off the prototype 33mm rise top loader stem with wider top plate and larger headed allen bolts as well as the 7mm thick team sprocket with flush spacers to convert between 24, 22 and 19mm spindles without affecting your chain line. It will be available in 25, 26 and 28 tooth sizes and has 4 crank bolt holes to rotate between to increase longevity (stay away from single holed sprockets kids!)

The guys at The Daily Grind dropped this exclusive with The Union featuring their new and wild looking Barkeep stem. Some of you eagle-eyed BMX nerds will notice the similarities between the Barkeep and this mid-school stem from Haro but hey, even Primo Powerbites are GT copies… This beefy lump of 6061-T6 aluminium has a 50mm reach and 35mm of rise and is held together with 6 solid chromoly bolts and should look to go for around 70 bucks within the next few days. I’m particularly feeling the classic, rounded, knee friendly rear of the stem in contrast to the overall block shape.

Ever since I was able to ride a Tierra a few years back, I’ve been extremely appreciative of Fly’s minimalistic, but efficient products. Everything they put out tends to have a real clean and simple look to it, and these new sprockets are no different! Here we have two new versions of their new sprocket dubbed the Tractor and the Tractor XL, respectively. The Tractor is made from CNC machined 7075 alloy, and is 6 mm thick all around. It comes in 25 and 28 tooth sizes, in black, misty silver, and one colorway that they’ve yet to release. Click through to see more photos, along with info on the Tractor XL.

Categories

Categories

Search The Merged

Search for:

The Merged is the No.1 BMX product website.

Our mission is to be the most up-to-date source for products and product related news within the BMX industry, bringing you the latest sneak peeks, specs and insider information on the freshest products first.

@themerged

All Content Copyright 2012 The Merged | Built and Maintained by Grant Elliott